Is this right?

This site contains affiliate links for which LandyZone may be compensated if you make a purchase.
rriggs

rriggs

New Member
Posts
351
Location
Welwyn Garden City
I was planning on doing a very simple and short bit of greenlaning and found a short lane less than a mile from home and about half a mile long. Basically straight along the edge of a field on the edge of town.

Checked on Wayfinder and lane exists and is listed as BOAT. Checked Ordnance Survey and is shown as line of green crosses. However, got to the start of the lane and it is blocked with lumps of concrete.

Is this allowed? Should I report it? Who would I report it to?

Cheers

Rog
 
I think your local council should have lists of local BOATS and shd be able to tell you what the status is and take the appropriate action.
 
Had something similar with a lane near me - County Council Rights of Way Footpath officer finally cleared up why... some lanes come under the jurisdiction of more than one governing body, in this case Kent County Council and Maidstone Borough Council - it was the latter who had removed the vehicular rights about 2 years previously to try and prevent fly tipping (which, of course, still goes on only now there's a lot less people up there to report it or take the reg numbers of people doing it). For some reason it's still marked as a BOAT on the OS maps and the 'Definitive map' held by KCC ROW Team, but it actually has no vehicular rights on it.

Pity they couldn't put up a notice to that effect, but hey, it's not 'their problem' I suppose ;)
 
rriggs said:
Council don't seem to want to talk about and I'm now fed up asking them. Guess I'll just have a look for a lane elsewhere...

Cheers

Rog
Click to expand...

Send a complaint in writing to the RoW manager at the county council simply stating that the BOAT is blocked (you need to give the grid reference of the blockage) and ask when they plan to move the obstruction. Don't give them any clue that you're not sure of the byway's status ~ they'll just use that against you ~ but write as if you KNOW it's vehicular. They are legally bound to respond to your letter within a reasonable time, which IIRC is 28 days.

If it has been downgraded they'll surely tell you :)

HTH
 
Cheers for the info. I will try contacting them (there is a link on their website) and will also pop into the library where (apparently) there should be a master copy of the county map of rights of way...

Cheers

Rog
 
Most councils keep the definitive map and list of streets at their offices so they can easily be modified and referred to. Around here you have to make an appointment to go view them and it's a good idea to take your OS maps with you so that you can mark them up whilst your there. If the local library has a copy then it may not be up-to-date.
 
Also check to see if the council has the lanes on the web. The Hampshire one shows the status of the route (TRO'd - Traffic Restriction Order- Closed) but for Surrey you need to check the document with all the lanes listed and thier status at time of printing.

This is the Hampshire interactive map.
Webmaps

and this is the Surrey one
Surrey Interactive Map
 
Can anyone tell me what the score is if someone reports your reg going down a road without public access. I hear stories that you can have your vehical confiscated and fines and bla bla. However if a road is marked on a map (even if it is out of date) and there are no signs to say otherwise then surley confiscating a vehical or even fining you is rather extreme in my opinion. What if you just got lost and wandered down the wrong track. If you have caused no damage and leave if asked to then surly this is the same as using someones drive in order to turn around.
 
i dunno. maybe an urban myth or a grey area. some bitch told me i was driving down a lane which had been closed in salisbury plain. i asked her where the sign was to inform the public of this and she told me some motocross yobs had thrown it into an adjacent field! i said to her, what use is it there? he still took my number plate. i asked her what she was going to do with it. she said she was making a list and reporting people. i told her to get a life and that i would say i wasnt there...

what are these people trying to achieve?

G
 
I agree Griff.

I got seen by a copper driving over a large grass roundabout. He saw me do it, followed me (checking the plate i guess) and then just carried on without saying a word! Now that roundabout wasnt a BOAT!! And if a copper isnt going to do anything about it, im doubting anyone else is!
 
Griffdowg said:
i dunno. maybe an urban myth or a grey area. some bitch told me i was driving down a lane which had been closed in salisbury plain. i asked her where the sign was to inform the public of this and she told me some motocross yobs had thrown it into an adjacent field! i said to her, what use is it there? he still took my number plate. i asked her what she was going to do with it. she said she was making a list and reporting people. i told her to get a life and that i would say i wasnt there...

what are these people trying to achieve?

G
Click to expand...

So she saw them throw it in the field, knows exactly where it is but hasn't been to retrieve it and reinstate it? She'd rather waste her time taking down reg numbers and 'reporting' people?

What is she trying to achieve - a feeling of self importance perhaps? There's a mad old biddy who takes down car reg numbers she believes is speeding near my brother in law's house in Aberdeenshire... every so often she sends a huge list of them to the local plod, who, I suspect, round file them staight away - noone Nick knows, or Nick come to that and he's merciless in winding the poor old bat up, has ever had any comeback.

Perhaps it would have been kinder to ask her to show you where the sign was and offer to replace it for her Griff? Not that there's much chance of there being a sign, or that it was lobbed in the bushes by some motorbike yobs - it's more likely to just be 'something to say' when asked about the lack of TRO signage :D
 
just get a bobly hat and walk along dropping litter ranting loudly about how the lane is so overgrown you can no longer use it and how it is the fault of the locals for getting the good old folk in 4x4s banned
 
good call G man.

there were loads of other TRO signed lanes in the area that we had to miss. but this one seemed ok. i did ask if she was going to "re-erect" the signpost to which i got a bimbling response. its no wonder reasonable people lose their rag with these folk... their a different breed! unresponsive, unhelpful, dithering, single-track minded, usually religeous, sad loners!

G
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

v8250
Bearmach Swivel Balls Safety Alert - from Glencoyne
Replies
9
Views
2K
v8250
v8250
JamesBB
P38A Unrepairable EAS fault after side steps fitted?
5 6 7
Replies
128
Views
7K
pwood999
pwood999
JIMBOB LR
Less Is More. The LR Series lives on.
2 3
Replies
40
Views
3K
steve2286w
steve2286w
M
Discovery1 lt230 in place of LT230R from a 12D?
Replies
3
Views
452
MrF
M
W
Does wing-top chequerplate usually have any gasket, or is it fixed direct?
Replies
9
Views
918
dag019
dag019
Back
Top